Sometimes Life
by Orion'sProdigy
Summary: Some things happen beyond our control. Circumstances change in the blink of an eye and everything is different. ItaSaku, dustings of other pairings. Slight AU. Mature for sexuality, but nothing at all graphic.
1. Chapter 1

_December 14_

_Today I woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Literally. When I went to roll back onto the right side and snuggle into the nice, cozy wall, I found out exactly why…_

Her cheek nuzzled the smooth chest and her fingers dug into the lean shoulders as a low rumble vibrated against her ear. His hands moved over her body like fire, pawing and grasping and teasing and caressing and driving her. Everything was the rocking motion of their bodies, tossed ships desperately seeking refuge from the tempest.

"I want…need more…beautiful…tighter…" His low murmurs, broken phrases that littered the atmosphere as clothes littered the floor.

"Gods, yes…I know…I know…_oh_…" Her soft moans, half-formed replies to half-formed thoughts.

Then fire, beautiful, forbidden black fire everywhere, threatening to engulf her in its intensity, and then it does and she's flying, blissfully burning away.

* * *

"Is there something I can do for you?" she says, rudely, to the hooded man whose gaze she has felt since she stepped through the door of the bar.

There is a dangerous air around him, and she has a sense of him smirking, even though, from what she can see beneath the hood, his features are a perfect picture of calm reserve.

"Perhaps."

* * *

Tsunade glanced up as the door opened, looking harassed (never a good sign for whoever was coming through said door) as she spied her apprentice stepping through the doors.

"You sent for me, Shishou?" Sakura asked, unworried; she'd dealt with her teacher for long enough that she was well used to her moods.

"I'd like you to look into something for me," the older woman said, tossing her a scroll carelessly. "If you need backup, take your boys with you or something. But keep it quiet. The target shouldn't provide a struggle if this is handled properly."

"…Shishou…" She stared at the characters on the scroll, slightly shocked; she wanted Sakura to _what?_

"I have the utmost confidence in you, Sakura. At least talk to him. Establish contact. He hasn't been in touch with our usual informants," the woman said sternly, then frowned slightly deeper. "Are you okay with this? I would send Kakashi, but he's currently out of commission for the next two weeks or so and I really need this taken care of if I'm to convince the council not to try to murder him." She let out a snort at the thought of the man being murdered by anyone they could send after him.

Sakura swallowed once, then set her jaw determinedly.

"Hai, Shishou. I'll do my best."

Though, when she looked back at the words glaring up at her from the scroll, she couldn't help but wonder.

**A; potential S-rank danger level**

**Objective: Retrieval of Uchiha Itachi…**

* * *

"Sakura-chaaaaannn…How much farther?" Naruto whined, earning another hostile glare from his rival and a bonk on the head from her.

"Shut up, Naruto. Some future Hokage; can't even take a little walking," she replied, huffing; he'd been going nonstop for the last hour of their so-far three day journey, and they still had another hour before they would reach the nearest town.

"Hey…You're tired, too," he pouted, rubbing his head.

"We're all tired, idiot. Shut up," Sasuke grunted.

"Hmph."

She shook her head at them, a familiar pang resounding in her chest; it gave her hope that maybe the impossible was happening and something of their old dynamic was returning, even if that was only the first time since they'd left that Sasuke had deigned to comment on anything without absolute necessity.

* * *

"I'm going out," she announced, grinding her teeth; it seemed that now that Sasuke had broken his silence, he couldn't (or wouldn't) stop needling Naruto, and Naruto, being Naruto, was happy to bark back at the Uchiha. They'd been sniping at each other for hours now (it was easily midnight) and she couldn't take it anymore.

"Oh, hey, wait up Sakura-ch-"

The door slamming behind her cut off the blonde's enthusiastic attempt at inviting himself.

_Sorry, Naruto._

* * *

She wandered out of the dingy inn they'd selected and browsed the town's night life; it was around the time for winter festivals, and there were colorful decorations and vendors and street performers every block or so. People packed the streets, clad in colorful festival wear, and the occasional firework popped in the distance. The atmosphere was pleasantly lively.

After a while, she wandered into a small bar, thirsty and figuring that she might as well check out the local gossip; bartenders had a knack for knowing things, and she had an idea that if her target had been through this town, this might be a good place to check.

They were watching a fireworks display from a rooftop when she suddenly noticed something about the hooded man she'd been conversing with for the past hour or so.

_His chakra signature…I would swear…there's no way…_

But apparently there was, because when she looked at his visible features in the flash of another firework, she recognized the slim, sharp jawline.

"…Do you enjoy fireworks, Itachi-san?" she asked warily after a long moment.

His eyes slid over to her, utterly unreadable; she knew because of the red glow of the Sharingan penetrating the shadows cast by his cowl.

"…Doesn't everyone, Sakura-san?"

* * *

How she ended up in his room, sipping politely at sake pilfered from his partner's stash and having what seemed to be a staring contest of sorts with him was beyond her; she'd meant to be talking by now, delivering Tsunade's message and getting the hell out of there, but there was a strange cast to the atmosphere once she'd recognized him, and now he was silent and watching her.

She cracked first, of course.

"So…er…Hokage-sama sent me out here to invite you back to the village once again, cleared of all charges and such…If it's…disagreeable to you, I am to request that you resume contact with the village, if you wouldn't mind."

Itachi tilted his head, regarding her with a coolly polite air.

"If I wouldn't mind," he echoed.

* * *

How she ended up pinned between his body and the wall, her mouth meshing with his and her fingers pawing at his cloaked chest, was an utter mystery to her. It seemed like one second they'd been sparring verbally as she tried to corner him into coming home (a task she was becoming more and more certain was impossible) and the next…

"I don't think it would be wise," he murmured against her mouth and along her jaw to her ear, moving as he spoke.

"I think you just don't want to," she shivered, her fingers fisting in the front of his cloak. "What are you doing?"

He ignored her, of course, preferring to let the sharp nip to her earlobe answer for him.

* * *

His hand slid over the covers toward her, slipping over her bare waist and settling against her lower back to pull her closer and press his face to her hair; otherwise, he remained still and gave off the appearance of sleep.

Her eyes squeezed shut. Waves of guilty shame were washing over her at the moment, ruining the peace. This was foolish. This was very foolish. She was supposed to be an emissary to the legendary ninja, besides the fact that he was her teammate's estranged brother; that she'd only just met him the night before was just another nail in her coffin.

This was so out of her character that she was almost as confused as she was ashamed. She'd been with a man before; they'd done it once or twice before the relationship had crumbled when he couldn't understand her devotion to her boys. But to actually…'do it' with a complete and utter stranger (let alone while on a mission, and said stranger was her target, and her teammate's brother) was something she had never considered before, something she even tended to scold Ino for. It threw her off balance and she wasn't sure how to react to it.

_/Ino will die when we tell her! Gods, he's amazing!/_

…_Ino will never find out. No one can ever find out…This was a mistake…This shouldn't have happened…Shishou would murder me…_

"You think very loudly."

She flinched slightly, looked at him with slightly wide eyes; she hadn't even noticed that he was awake. He stared back levelly, inscrutable.

"I…This…wasn't supposed to happen…" she finished lamely, frowning.

He simply watched her, neither confirming nor denying her statement; they both knew it was true (or she was pretty sure that he agreed with her).

"…so I should probably get back to-

The door to the room banged open and the blanket was pulled up over them in an instant.

"Honey, I'm hoooom-Whoa. Did you…?" A huge man with bluish skin and a large katana over hung across his back stepped into the room, kicking the door shut behind him carelessly; he was sniffing curiously, a pointy-toothed grin starting to spread across his face. "You did. My little Itachi is finally growing up," he cackled, peering over at us.

"Kisame." The Uchiha's tone was both unimpressed and unamused.

"Huh…I feel like I know that hair…oh man, aren't you that little spitfire medic from Konoha? Nice taste, Itachi, very nice."

"_Kisame._"

The big man arched a brow at him for a moment before waggling his eyebrows.

"We were discussing something important."

"Oh, right. Sorry I interrupted your pillow talk," he responded, rolling his eyes and flopping onto the other bed, burying his head under his pillow. "Don't mind me. I'll just take a nap…been out all night. Gotta let me tell ya about them later, Itachi…"

Sakura was blushing profusely, biting her lip and getting both more embarrassed and more frustrated by the second. Itachi turned back to her, a faint frown on his lips; his eyes lingered on her mouth before meeting her own.

"…We have things to discuss?" he prodded.

She blinked and shifted uncomfortably.

* * *

They talked about the terms of her mission in the small shower in his suite; it hadn't been her idea, but when he'd stepped into the little stall and started massaging what she assumed was his shampoo into her hair, she forgot why exactly it hadn't been her idea. He agreed to come back in the end, on the terms that Kisame could accompany him.

Somehow, she doubted that the decision had anything to do with her attempts at negotiation.

* * *

A/N: So, this is my first posted Naruto fic and I'm honestly really nervous about it. The style is sort of my attempt at stream of consciousness and I hope that it makes some sort of sense. It's probably not that good, but...I had spare time and a laptop. Oh well... Anywho, this is clearly AU. The setting would be post-war, and clearly Itachi and Kisame are both alive. Why? Because I love them both with a fiery passion (especially Itachi :D ). I'm going to do my best to update this if anyone shows an interest, but I can't make any promises; my life is batsh** crazy right now (this is my zen time). I've written a _lot_ of random Naruto fics, but this is the first one I've posted and I'm hoping it's better than the other fic I have on this site...anyway, I think I've babble enough. Please review! It would mean a lot to me. Thanks!


	2. Chapter 2

_If you're going to do something tonight that you'll be sorry for tomorrow morning, sleep late._

_-Henny Youngman_

* * *

Uchiha Itachi was not an impulsive man; his reserved nature and great mental acuity generally prevented him from acting without putting at least some thought into possible alternatives, collateral damage, consequences, and so on. Neither was he a careless man; that he had survived in his chosen lifestyle for so long was a testament to this fact, disregarding numerous other contributing factors.

Thus, he was mildly surprised when he returned to consciousness slowly; one of the first things that became evident was a headache. This was strange, as he had no memory of any training or fighting the previous day that would have caused him such a pain. It wasn't from his Sharingan, because the pain was neither the splitter headache he tended to get from his eyes at random nor the result of his eyes' overuse.

As he woke more fully, he became aware of other symptoms; a horrible taste accompanied by the feeling of a cotton-mouth and a vague hint of discord in his gut.

Frowning deeply, he let his eyes flicker open, the rest of his senses finally returning through the slight grogginess at the same time his memory clicked.

He blinked, both at the shade of pink he found and in mild incredulity at himself.

…_Apparently I drank more than I intended…Did I really…? Hn…well, now what?_

For one miniscule second, he was utterly off-balance; this was not like him. This was not like him at all. What on _Earth_ had he been thinking? Sleeping with the Godaime's apprentice, an ambassador from Konoha come to offer him his home, and, perhaps most importantly, one of Sasuke's teammates? Had he completely taken leave of his senses?

Apparently, yes, because a quick check debunked the theory that this might be some elaborate (and rather bizarre) gen-jutsu (not that he'd held out much hope for that theory, being who he was) and the pinkette beside him was shifting slightly, a soft groan leaving her throat as she neared wakefulness.

The second passed, and he was back in control, calmly trying to sort out how best to handle the situation.

In the end, he surrendered to instinct, something he'd done perhaps once in his entire life, and decided to simply go with it. It wasn't as if the situation could get much worse.

* * *

"Not a word, Kisame."

"Heh, heh…I'll keep your secret…for a price."

Itachi sighed almost silently; he should have expected his partner to be difficult about this.

* * *

The walk to Konoha was…awkward. There were no other words for it.

Naruto treated them as cheerily as he treated anyone, behaving with impressive diplomacy and even seeming to develop some sort of bond with Kisame over a sparring session one evening. He was also surprisingly warm to Itachi, seeming to have decided to 'let bygones be bygones' in the wake of the man's actions during the convoluted war and the revelation of his true motives (or some of them, anyway).

Sasuke was…broody. Itachi would have said that he was unsure how to act around him, and he couldn't say he blamed the young man. As such, his younger brother spent most of the journey either glaring at him or ignoring him (and everyone else) to the best of his abilities.

Sakura was touchy. For the most part, she talked to Naruto or at Sasuke or remained quiet. Occasionally, she aimed a comment at Itachi or Kisame as though to be polite, but for the most part she treated the two men the way a wounded predator might have regarded a hunter; with caution and a faint touch of skittishness.

Kisame couldn't have cared less, Itachi was sure; he was relatively easy to deal with anyways, and he seemed rather amused by the whole situation. He would occasionally shoot Sakura a secretive wink and then cackle when the girl turned pink and glowered desperate death, being careful to conceal her reaction from her teammates (or attempt to). Naruto he seemed to find equally amusing, especially when they sparred.

Itachi simply kept to himself for the most part; it was easier that way, and he didn't want to push Sasuke's (or Sakura's) limits.

* * *

"Itachi." Tsunade sat behind her desk, eyeing them appraisingly.

"Hokage-sama," he replied, inclining his head.

The woman's lips twitched slightly, as though unsure whether to frown or smile.

"…Welcome home."

Itachi took a long moment to consider those words; they were certainly words he'd never expected to hear directed at him. The idea that he'd be able to return to the village one day had seemed ludicrous; besides the fact that he'd taken on the title of insane mass murderer, he'd fully intended to die three years ago when he'd faced Sasuke in the Uchiha hideout.

A sense of surreal peace filled him as he stood there; the corner of his mouth quirked slightly.

"Thank you, Hokage-sama."

* * *

**A/N: Well, I updated it. I'm not sure if I cut the chapter too short but…I ran out of inspiration, and it seemed like a semi-reasonable stopping point. As a side note, I rewrote this chapter twice. At first, I was going to center the whole fic on Sakura's POV, 3****rd**** person. Then I changed my mind, obviously, because I like Itachi (even if he's a **_**bitch**_** to write). So I may end up alternating POV's between chapters. We'll see how it goes. For the record, the diary-entries will start Sakura's chapters, and quotes will start Itachi's. Why? Because I said so…also, I don't know if I like this chapter or not. Let me know what you think, please. Thanks. **


End file.
